


Light The Way

by frozensea



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Friendship, Gen, Late Night Conversations
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-16
Updated: 2020-02-16
Packaged: 2021-02-28 01:40:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,460
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22755652
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/frozensea/pseuds/frozensea
Summary: Reaching out, Rose covered his hands with one of her own. "I believe in you. We all do." She nodded towards Leia's body. "And she did as well."
Relationships: Poe Dameron & Rose Tico
Comments: 6
Kudos: 10
Collections: Chocolate Box - Round 5





	Light The Way

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Melody_Jade](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Melody_Jade/gifts).



Poe stared unseeingly at the white sheet that covered Leia's body. His hands felt cold despite the tropical climate, and he wrung them between his bent knees.

"I don't know how to do this. I'm not ready," he said softly. The weight of his new responsibilities lay like a dark and heavy cloak across his shoulders. He could physically feel it weigh him down.

"I don't know how you did it all these years." He swallowed against the tightness in his throat. His eyes were burning, and the only thing that kept his tears at bay was the knowledge that the last thing his fellow rebels needed right now was to see their new leader openly grieving.

He still had a lot to make up for. He may have earned back the respect that his attempted mutiny had cost him in the past year, but on the inside, he still felt the shame of his rashness and lack of faith. How could he ask the Resistance to trust him with their lives when he had failed to give that trust in the past.

"I don't know how we're going to win this one."

"The usual way," a bright voice said from behind him. "Flying by the seat of our pants, and not knowing when to quit."

Rose nudged him until he made space for. "Hasn't that served us pretty well so far?" Her smile was sad when she sat next to him, but her gaze held such fierce determination that Poe looked away first.

"I think you're forgetting just how spectacularly I scre-"

"The mutiny? I'm not forgetting that. I'm ignoring it. Because you don't strike me as the kind of person who makes the same mistake twice." She gave him an assessing look. "The mutiny was a mistake, but the fallout has made you a better leader, Poe."

"It's making me second-guess myself."

"Nah," she bumped her shoulder against his own. "It's just making you consider the consequences of your action more thoroughly. You're a person of action as my mother would say. You won't freeze when the chips are down because you don't know which way to go."

"How can you be so sure?"

Reaching out, Rose covered his hands with one of her own. "I believe in you. We all do." She nodded towards Leia's body. "And she did as well."

Poe pulled his hands out from under hers and threw an arm across her shoulder, squeezing briefly.

"Thank you for that."

"You're welcome."

He straightened. "Right, so all that's left to do is take down a whole super fleet of Star Destroyers, kill Palpatine, and dismantle the First Order. Should be a walk in the park." 

His bravado was lost on Rose. "One thing at a time," she smiled.

Poe sighed heavily. "Yeah. The fleet at Exogol needs to be our priority."

"You know, when the First Order came to my home planet, we didn't believe that there was anything we could do about them. There were so many of them, Star Destroyers in the sky, stormtroopers on the ground. Tie fighters and walkers patrolling day and night, while children younger than Paige and I disappeared from one mining colony to the next.

They separated us as much as possible. Curfews after dark, taverns and meeting places shut down, groups in the street were broken up. It felt as if they were watching each and every one of us every hour of the day. Broadcasts became First Order controlled, so even if someone resisted, none of us ever heard about it."

"They made you believe you were alone," Poe said grimly.

"Yes." A pained smile settled on Rose's face. "Paige and I blew up twelve orediggers." The candlelight flickered in her eyes. "We thought that if we just made a big enough bang, the First Order wouldn't be able to hush it up, and people would know that others were willing to fight."

Poe looked at her with newfound respect. He'd known Rose as a competent mechanic, and both Finn's admiration of her, and the fact that Leia had taken her under her wing and given her more responsibilities told him that Rose was a valuable asset, but he'd never have thought that he'd have such a courageous saboteur hiding behind her unassuming face.

"Did it work?"

Rose wiped a tear from her cheek, and Poe belatedly realized that the grief for her sister still ran deep. He was also acutely aware that it had been his orders that had lead to her death.

"We crippled the First Order's mining operation for three days. People rose up, they fought, and even though we could see that we wouldn't be able to take the planet back, many of us escaped during the riots. Paige and I had planned to plead our case in front of the senate, to get support from the New Republic to liberate Minor Hays, but…"

She broke off and swallowed heavily.

Poe put his arm back across her shoulder. He knew what had happened.

"By the time you got there, the First Order had razed the colonies to the ground."

Fists clenching, Rose met his compassion with ferocity. "They made an example of us. My parents and friends became a message to the rest of the galaxy that there was a steep price to pay for standing up to the First Order. But what they forget is that the more they take away from you the less you have to lose. Paige and I joined the Resistance, and we swore to each other that we would not rest until the First Order was destroyed."

At his questioning look, she halted. "You look surprised."

"Finn told me that when he asked you why you stopped him from taking out the canon on Crait, you said that it is more important to save the things we love than to destroy the things we hate."

Her smile turned rueful.

"I believe that now. I didn't back then. I hated the First Order too much. All I wanted was revenge for my parents."

"What changed?"

Rose wrapped her hand around the pendant at her neck. "Paige did. She was always the more level-headed one between the two of us." Laughing softly through the tears that had started to fall, she continued. "Paige reminded me day after day, to look around, to see the people we were fighting alongside, and remember that protecting them, making sure that they and their families.... that all of us had a future worth living for was what kept us strong. 

"Rage burns you from the inside out. It's exhausting to hate. But knowing that we are not alone, that there will always be those who will stand beside us, who share our hopes and our belief that we can only be strong together... that's what will make us win this war.

"You are right to be worried about how we're going to disable the fleet on Exogol. We need more fighters and more ships, but I believe that we have allies out there. And I believe that they will stand with us, but we need to let them know that we are here... that we are fighting not just to win, but fighting for them. The destruction of the Hosnian system drove everybody underground, and the First Order rounding up our sympathizers have only driven them deeper into hiding, but if we let them know, if we can get a message out there that the time has come to take a stand, they will follow you to Exogol."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Because she is a smart young woman," a voice said from behind them.

Startled, they turned towards the stately figure that stepped out of the shadows.

"Lando," Poe exclaimed.

Lando Calrissian inclined his head in greeting. His gaze rested on Rose. "And a spirited one as well. I never knew your sister, but I'd wager she'd be proud of you."

Rose blushed.

"You came," Poe grinned. "Fighting days not over after all?"

"It seems not. And as for your concerns about finding allies, I have an idea or two on how to get you the people you need."

"How?"

"Let that be my concern. You have an assault on Exogol to plan. Take the young woman's advice to heart, Poe. As long as you can rely on each other, you can take on any challenge." He turned to Rose. "And as for you... I could use someone with your conviction rallying support for us. What do you say? Would you like to join me?

Rose looked uncertainly to Poe, who nodded encouragingly. "Go with him. Bring as many people as you can."

Rose squeezed his hand. "We will."


End file.
